Four persons, including a retired commanding officer (CO) of the 4th Indian Reserved Battalion (IRB) have been abducted by armed gunmen from Sekmai in Manipur's Imphal West district, a top police officer said today.

The abduction of the four senior citizens took place on Thursday evening when they were on their evening walk from Sekmai to Khurkul village, Manipur Director General of Police L M Khaute told PTI.

The four were the retired CO of 4th IRB, Angom Kunjo (70), Khwairakpam Yaiskul (70), Khwairakpam Abalo (65) and Khwairakpam Rotonmani (70), he said adding they were whisked away in a vehicle by unidentified armed men.

The police have registered a case at Sekmai police station and search operations are on at several places in the state since yesterday to nab the culprits, he added.